Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery revealed he is aiming to find more new recruits like Myziane Maolida who have the “hunger” to get their career back on track as he runs the rule over former Tottenham midfielder Luke Amos.
The Easter Road manager was thrilled to land Maolida on loan from Hertha Berlin until the end of the season, with the 24-year-old attacker having been the subject of an £8million transfer from Lyon to Nice in 2018 and then another multi-million switch to the German capital in 2021.
The French-born Comoros international has lost his way in recent seasons but Montgomery feels the Hibees can benefit from the “massively talented” loanee’s desire to get back on track.
“Myziane’s had some big-money moves but we had honest conversations before the loan happened and he probably feels everything was given to him a little bit early,” explained the Hibs boss.
“Maybe at times he didn’t really grasp the opportunity. Now he’s really hungry to get his career back on track and for us to be able to attract a player like that speaks volumes for the club. I’m really excited about the impact he can make.
“A perfect scenario is a player that wants to prove people wrong. The reality is we don’t get a player of his ability on the budget we have unless he really wants to play for the club.
“He had a lot of options to go to England, France and Belgium but I spoke to him and explained what I wanted from him and I think he just has to get enjoying his football again.
“I think it’s really powerful to bring a player in who is a perfect age at 24 years old and wants to prove people wrong and get his career back on track.
“I knew this window was going to be tight (budget-wise) and that we would have to be creative to bring players like Myziane. He’s a one-off situation but we need to keep looking for situations like that.”
Maolida is unlikely to be involved in Saturday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup fourth-round tie away to cinch League Two strugglers Forfar as he is still awaiting his work permit.
Another player on Hibs’ radar who is looking to resurrect their career is 26-year-old former Tottenham midfielder Amos, who has been without a club since leaving QPR at the end of the season.
“You don’t play 150-plus games in the English Championship unless you’re a good player,” said Montgomery.
“He’s had a couple of injuries and found himself not signing for anybody at the start of the season but he’s got himself back fit and he’s been training with Tottenham Under-23s.
“We were going to take him to Dubai (for their recent warm-weather training camp) but it was probably a little bit too soon so he’s up training with us just now.
“He’s a very good player and it’s very rare that you have a player of that quality who is looking for a platform to get back on track so we’ll have a look and see how that one goes.”